Greetings ! I am a newbee from Queensland, Australia Will likely make some booboos!

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Greetings ! I am a newbee from Queensland, Australia Will likely make some booboos!

Hello everyone , It may seem odd, but I have not got my Cavalier companion, yet. I have the last of my new fences going in now. I have sent off emails to the Cav Club in QLD about breeders over the last couple of months, but have not heard back, Yet (?) Must be busy. The Cav Club QLD did get back to me about my interest in joining and mentioned the June Family Fun day is on again this year, so I will go. I used to have 2 Maltese boys(brothers) , with the last one passing away at 15yoa. Has been 2 years now without a dog, and have decided for the fabulous little Cavalier. My vet said they are BEAUTIFUL little dogs! But to be prudent about getting proof of parents cardiac status for MVD - goog heart stock. So, if anyone could suggest a fantastic breeder, I do not mind ! (thinking of getting two)

Hello and welcome. I don't live in Australia so can't recommend a breeder but just to say you also need to make sure that the one you find also tests by MRI for SM. have a read of the side box at the side of the home page here -the one about Buying a Puppy. It's full of information in particular about the essential health tests that need to be carried out on both of the puppies parents. Good luck with your search!!

Thanks for the warm welcome, Shirley. Yes CavalierTalk has so much info and data, and have noticed some breeders refer to it. My vet said to not worry about SM here in Australia as never seen it. BUT I am still alert. I see you have a Ruby and a Tri, also. We had our RSPCA million paws walk in Brisbane today, and I am looking fwd to having my OWN paws along next year. Cheers

I will also underline that you need to seek a breeder who is doing MRIs for SM and using the SM breeding protocol. Your vetmay simply be unfamiliar with spotting SM -- even in the UK where the breed is very common, one research paper noted on average it took close to three years for dogs to be correctly diagnosed as vets will keep believing they are seeing allergies, skin problems, disk disease (also common in the breed) etc because this is a specialist disease generally requiring an MRI for diagnosis. Breeders who MRI on average have found about 50% of their dogs, with NO symptoms at the time, scan with a syrinx (SM). Once vets are familiar with it, they tend to find they regularly see it. My own vets in Ireland would also, at one time have said they rarely saw it. Once they learned more about it and also looked after my own dogs with SM, they now regularly refer cavaliers for positive diagnosis at the nearby vet school.

We have Australian members who have SM dogs (some, more than one) and there have been research projects involving a neurologist in Sydney. As the breeding dogs in Australia are all relatively recent imports from the UK and other regions with SM and are all mostly closely interrelated (the gene pool for cavaliers is relatively small) it would be impossible for there not to be the same incidence of SM in Australia as elsewhere (about 70% according to one 550+ cavalier study of asymptomatic dogs, by the time they are over 6).

SM is also known in Brussels Griffons and it is Australian griffon breeder Lee Pieterse that has pushed for MRIs and research internationally in that breed (which also has a high incidence of SM) and also helped raise awareness of SM in cavalier breeders in Australia too over the years.

It would be worth showing your vet this webpage from one of the Australian cavalier clubs, which makes very clear that there is CM/SM in Australia:

Note there IS a programme set up for screening breeder's dogs. Hence I would not even consider taking a puppy in Australia from anyone not screening for SM as well as MVD.

Unfortunately almost every cavalier owner will deal with one or both of these conditions at some point, at some degree of affectedness. Carefully choosing a testing, protocol-following breeder can greatly reduce the chances of seeing a serious, early onset level of either MVD or SM. But any cavalier owner needs to be familiar with these conditions, be prepared to see them eventually show up in their dogs, and -- insure your puppy immediately with an insurer who covers genetic illness.

We all love this breed deeply but there are some sad realities about the overall state of breed health and right now, postponing onset or aiming for very mild conditions rather than avoiding them entirely is more the norm for both MVD and SM as they are so widespread in the breed. Therefore choosing a health testing breeder for BOTH conditions, is critical.

Thank you Karlin. Cavalier Club in New South Wales seems to have breeders more savvy with SM screening their stock, going by each breeders ad, and they replied to my email. Have sent 2 emails to Queensland Cavalier breeders and have not heard back. Maybe the facilities for MRI of cavs is not active in QLD as NSW? Aus is a BIG place. Yes I agree it is vital to have the health screening I would be shattered to have a suffering dog.

SM is definitely in Australia, and more prominent than I think most people think. I am in Sydney and have one SM dog, and work closely with the neuro here - her statistic numbers for Australia alone are shocking...Karlin is right, it is just about being able to recognise it or know a dog is diagnosed, then you see it everywhere (that is what happened with our vet).

I know two breeders in NSW that MRI scan their breeding stock (as well as all the other health checks). Would you like me to message you their info? I know you are in Queensland, but making the extra effort now to meet and love a puppy from a scanning breeder will save you so much heart ache later. Having watched what SM does to an animal, I cannot push people hard enough to purchase from a scanning breeder. Nothing is guaranteed, but given the statistics from my neuro on SM, I would never personally do otherwise. It's not worth the Russian Roulette that we would put these animals through.

Let me know if you do want these breeders info - they are within a 3 hour radius of Sydney mostly. Transport can always be worked out.

Hi BrooklynMom, Thought I had gotten back to you, sorry. ( I have trouble with msgs not saving ) Still researching etc Yes please let me know of breeders who MRI Scan NSW. How is your SM baby going? good advice Cheers for now! ZIGZAG